Apple stock rocked for fourth day, despite brief signs of recovery

President Donald Trump appearing to be more open to negotiations was initially enough to see Apple's shares rise fractionally overnight, only to see the fourth trading day since the tariff announcement deliver another big hit to the stock.

While Apple's shares went from $223.89 before the announcement, to $181.46 at the close of business on Monday, April 7, it then began to recover, hitting $183.67 in overnight trading. It then rose to $189.71 by 10:40 A.M. Eastern, only to fall back sharply to $184.11 under an hour later.

As of the close of trading on Tuesday, Apple's shares were at $172.87, down more than 5% on the day. The four-day run of consecutive losses is Apple stock's worst hit since 2001.

The continued collapse, and also the day's sporadic moments of recovery, have followed how the volatile market has been responding to different reports and assertions.

Specifically, the rises and falls appear to be related to the varying news reports concerning tariffs and negotiations. At one point, according to CNBC, treasury secretary Scott Bessent called China's retaliatory tariffs a "big mistake."

"What do we lose by the Chinese raising tariffs on us?" he said. "We export one-fifth to them of what they export to us, so that is a losing hand for them."

However politically-minded that curious claim from a treasury secretary may be — Apple's costs are doubling because of Trump, not China — it would suggest little room for negotiation.

Yet at around the same time, Trump himself said that he was just waiting for the Chinese to call to start negotiations. As noted by BBC News, Trump also said that "things are looking good" as a team from South Korea headed to Washington for talks.

Then US secretary of the treasury Scott Bessent claimed that the US will be able to strike "good deals" with many of its trading partners, suggesting that the tariffs may be altered.

However, there appears to be no sign that the major tariffs starting on April 9 will be postponed. That includes the 104% tariff on goods imported from China.

Given that the tariffs will start, even if they are negotiated down later, it's likely that US firms will hold off on orders while the tariffs are in effect.

The tariffs have already seen overseas firms such as the UK's Jaguar Land Rover deciding to stop exporting to the US until the situation is clearer.

If there is a change to the tariffs in the short term, Apple could conceivably avoid hardware price hikes. Ahead of the tariffs coming into effect, Apple had already stepped up imports of the iPhone to give it a stockpile.